Adjustable chairs and beds

ABSTRACT

An adjustable chair( 1 ) includes a .chassis( 2 ) onto which the chair is moveably mounted with respect thereto about a common plane normal to the major plane of the chassis, a pair of side walls ( 8 ) extending from the chassis and adapted to, in use, prevent accidental access to the space between the chassis and the chair from respective sides thereof, wherein at least one tambour( 9,10 ) is provided between the front and/or the rear of the chair relative to said side, the or each tambour therefore providing a rigid but moveable barrier to accidental entry into the space between the chair and the chassis.

This invention relates to adjustable chairs and beds of the type whichare powered by mechanisms which allow all or part of the chair or bed,as the case may be, to be moved from one position to another, such as inthe case of a chair, from an upright to a horizontal configuration etc.

Hereafter the term “chair” is intended to encompass other items ofpowered and moveable furniture including beds, where the generalconfiguration is adjustable in a variety of ways including height, tiltand overall geometry.

A problem with adjustable chairs, especially adjustable chairs that arepowered and operable by an occupant thereof, such as an invalid, is thatwhen the chair has been moved into e.g. a relatively high and inclinedposition in order to allow the occupant to stand, children and animalsmay thereafter become entrapped thereunder when the chair is returned toits normal and relatively low position. To help prevent this, fixed sidewalls are usually fitted to such chairs and in order to prevent accessto the front and/or rear of the chair flexible screens such as bellowsor stretched fabric have traditionally been used.

However, a disadvantage of such traditional protection lies in the factthat it is necessarily flexible and can therefore still allow entry of achild or an animal into the space between the chair and the chassis orframe onto which it is mounted, or the floor, as the case may be.

The present invention is derived from the realisation that it would bepreferable to have at all times a rigid barrier to protect against theaccidental entry of children or small animals into the space affordedbetween the chair and the floor at the front and/or back of the chaireven when the chair is being moved from one position to another, such asa low position to a high position and back again.

According to the invention there is provided an adjustable chairincluding a chassis onto which the chair is moveably mounted withrespect thereto about a common plane normal to the major plane of thechassis, a pair of side walls extending from the chassis and adapted to,in use, prevent accidental access to the space between the chassis andthe chair from respective sides thereof, CHARACTERISED IN THAT at leastone tambour is provided between the front and/or the rear of the chairrelative to said side, the or each tambour therefore providing a rigidbarrier to accidental entry into the space between the chair and thechassis.

Conveniently, where the chair is intended to be raised at the front aswell as at the rear, front and rear tambours are provided, each beingfixed to respective parts of the front and rear of the chair and aforward and rearward part of the chassis between the side walls.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, only one tambour isprovided at the rear of the chair, access to the chassis from the frontbeing prevented by a rigid or semi rigid flap extending substantiallybetween the side walls and being fixed to a lower front portion of thechassis, such as by being pivoted thereto, the flap being held in asubstantially upright position during movement of the seat of the chairby being guided between a pair of guide rails so as to substantiallyprevent or inhibit access to the inside of the chassis from the frontduring such movement.

In a further alternative embodiment, the chair is provided with atambour at the rear mounted on a spring biased roller or drum fixed forrotation on a lower portion of the chassis, the free end of the tambourbeing secured to a rear portion of the chair, and at the front there isanother tambour fixed to a lower portion of the chassis between a pairof guide rails, the tambour being preferably spring biased also, andbeing fixed at its free end to a front portion of the chair. With thisarrangement, it has been found that the chair may be tilted forward anddownwardly to a greater extent than if the front tambour were mounted ona roller or drum, since as the chair is lowered downwards and forwardsthe tambour slides back between the guide rails underneath the chairsubstantially in the plane of the floor on which the chair rests suchthat in its fully retracted position the tambour covers substantiallythe whole of the underside of the chair.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view from the front and one side of anadjustable chair according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the rear and one side of the chair ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the chair of FIG. 1 at its highestposition;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the chair of FIG. 1 at its lowest,extended position;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view from the front and one side of part of asecond embodiment of the invention in which the chair operatingmechanism is shown in its lowermost position;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the chair of FIG. 5 showing the chair inan intermediate, part raised position;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the chair of FIG. 5 showing the chair inits fully raised position;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view from the front and one side of part of achair according to a third embodiment of the invention at its lowestposition; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the chair of FIG. 8 shown in its fullyraised position.

Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a conventionaladjustable chair shown generally at 1 mounted for upward and inclinedmovement, in a manner to be explained, on a rectilinear steel chassis 2,both drawings depicting the chair 1 in its fully extended and inclinedposition corresponding to a position in which an occupant thereof maystand, if previously seated, or sit if previously standing adjacentthereto. The chair 1 includes a seat 3, backrest 4 and armrests 5,6,which armrests are slidably moveable inside a pair of correspondinglyshaped side walls 7,8 fixed to chassis 2 and extending upwardlytherefrom.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, a first tambour 9 prevents access to thespace between the side walls 7,8 from the front of the chair 1 and aswill be seen from FIG. 2 a second tambour 10 does likewise with respectto the rear of the chair 1.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the mechanism by which the tambours 9,10operate is illustrated and in which it will be seen that the firsttambour 9 is mounted on a cylindrical roller or drum 11 rotatablymounted between a pair of spigots 12 (only one of which is shown)connected to a forward end of the operating mechanism shown generally at13 of the chair 1.

Similarly, the second tambour 10 is rolled around a cylindrical roller14 rotatably mounted between a pair of spigots 15 (only one of which isshown), the otherwise free end of which is fixed to the lower rear edge16 of the backrest 4.

The cylindrical rollers 11,14 are each spring-biased to wind therespective tambours 9,10 onto them so that, in use, there is never a gapbetween the respective tambours 9,10 which can be accessed from thefront or rear of the chair 1, and since the side walls 7,8 preventaccess from the sides it will be apparent that with the use of tamboursotherwise significant safety hazard is eliminated or mitigated by theinvention.

Although this embodiment of the invention shows the tambours 9,10mounted for rotation on cylindrical rollers 11,14 on, respectively, aforward end of the chair operating mechanism 13 and at a rearward end ofthe chassis 2, it will be appreciated that these rollers 11,14 may bemounted the other way around so that the roller 11 is mounted on aforward end of the chassis 2 and the roller 14 may be mounted on arearward end of the operating mechanism 13, or both could be mounted onrespective forward and rearward edges of either the operating mechanism13 or the chassis 2.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown with reference toFIGS. 5 to 7 in which the chair operating mechanism 13 is shown,respectively, in its fully lowered position, in an intermediateposition, and in its fully raised position. In this embodiment the chaironly has one tambour 17 mounted at the rear in the same manner as theembodiment shown with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 but at the front thereis provided instead a rigid or semi rigid flap 18 pivotally mounted to afront region of the chassis 2 on pivot pins 19 (shown in FIGS. 6 and 7),the upper end of the flap 18 being provided with guide pins 20 atrespective ends, each receivable within an arcuate guide rail or track21 secured to a front portion 22 of the chair operating mechanism 13.

With this arrangement, when the chair operating mechanism is in itslowest position as shown in FIG. 5, the flap 18 prevents access to theinterior of the chair and as is shown with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7,by virtue of the provision of the guide pins 20 and guide tracks 21 oneither side thereof the flap 18 also prevents access to the interior ofthe chair when raised to an intermediate or to a fully raised position.

In a further alternative embodiment as shown with reference to FIGS. 8and 9, a tambour 23 is provided on a roller 24 at the rear of the chairand a tambour 25 is provided at the front, but in this case is slidinglyreceived within a pair of oppositely disposed guide rails 26 (only oneof which is shown); the tambour 25 being spring biased to the positionshown in FIG. 8 and thereby being moveable to the position shown in FIG.9 when the chair operating mechanism 13 is in its fully raised position.A foldable foot rest 27 is also secured to a front part of the chairoperating mechanism 13 which, when raised to the position shown in FIG.9 nevertheless still provides for the tambour 25 to be partially pulledout of the guide rails 26 by being secured at its leading edge 25 a, toa fixed part (not shown) of the chair operating mechanism 13, thetambour 25 returning to the position shown in FIG. 8 when the chairoperating mechanism 13 is lowered.

The invention therefore provides, in its several embodiments, for theprevention of easy access to the inner workings of the chair through thesimple yet elegant expedient of one or more tambours at the front andrear of the chair, or by through the use of one tambour in conjunctionwith a flap pivoted to a lower portion of the chair chassis, although itwill be understood that other combinations may be adopted withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention.

1. An adjustable chair(1) including a chassis(2) onto which the chair is moveably mounted with respect thereto about a common plane normal to the major plane of the chassis, a pair of side walls(18) extending from the chassis and adapted to, in use, prevent accidental access to the space between the chassis and the chair from respective sides thereof, CHARACTERISED IN THAT at least one tambour(9,10) is provided between the front and/or the rear of the chair relative to said side, the or each tambour therefore providing a rigid barrier to accidental entry into the space between the chair and the chassis.
 2. A chair according to claim 1 further characterised in that, where the chair is intended to be raised at the front as wall as at the rear; front and rear tambours are provided, each being fixed to respective parts of the front and rear of the chair and a forward and rearward part of the chassis between the side walls.
 3. A chair according to claim 1 further characterised in that, only one tambour is provided at the rear of the chair, access to the chassis from the front being prevented by a rigid or semi rigid flap(18) extending substantially between the side walls and being fixed to a lower front portion of the chassis.
 4. A chair according to claim 3 further characterised in that the flap is pivoted to the chassis.
 5. A chair according to claim 4 further characterised in that the flap is held in a substantially upright position during movement of the seat of the chair by being guided between a pair of guide rails(21) so as to substantially prevent or inhibit access to the inside of the chassis from the front during such movement.
 6. A chair according to claim 3 further characterised in that the flap is held in a substantially upright position during movement of the seat of the chair by being guided between a pair of guide rails(21) so as to substantially prevent or inhibit access to the inside of the chassis from the front during such movement.
 7. A chair according to claim 1 further characterised in that it is provided with a tambour(23) at the rear mounted on a spring biased roller(24) fixed for rotation on a lower portion of the chassis, the, free end of the tambour being secured to a rear portion of the chair, and at the front there is another tambour(25) fixed to a lower portion of the chassis between a pair of guide rails(26), the tambour being preferably spring biased also, and being fixed at its free end to a front portion of the chair. 